by Jessie Cooke
“Sorry,” Bella smiled.
“Now don’t you worry,” Jack said as he clapped Reece on his back. “I always say a fella should put his best foot forward when he’s meeting a girl’s family. Used to tell my boys that growing up. Of course, some have better feet than others. Some have something better than a foot to put forward, eh?” His voice was overcome with his own wheezy laughter at Reece’s expense. “Don’t mind me, fella. I’m just joshing with you, though any man who’d send his lady a portrait like that is bound to know that God has blessed him.”
“Whatever you say, sir,” Reece said, his head ducked shyly. “I knew it was a mistake sending it here. I should have waited,” he mumbled to himself.
“What, and deny the women-folks the uh, what’s the word they’ve been using, Bella?”
“Eye candy,” she provided.
“Yes, that’s it. Would you deny the women folk the experience of the eye candy they’ve been going on about for the days since its arrival? Of course, I don’t know that they won’t faint when they see you in the flesh, but . . . well, I guess it won’t be as much flesh as they’ve already seen.”
“Christo!” Reece called and went to shake his hand, thankful for the diversion from the topic of his portrait.
“Reece! I knew you’d be out here sooner or later,” Christo said as he hugged his friend.
“Have you told her our news?” Reece asked him.
“Yes, but she’s hesitant.”
“She’ll come around,” Reece said with sureness.
“She is standing right here,” Bella commented.
“Bella, take Reece on up to the house. Your mom and dad will want to know what all the ruckus was about. I’m assuming you’re staying for dinner,” Jack said indicating the overnight bag back on Reece’s shoulder.
“I was hoping to stay for dinner and breakfast,” he smiled. “And hoping Bella would return with me in the morning.”
“Well, don’t get too far ahead of yourself,” Bella’s grandfather advised. “Bella here may have other plans for you.”
“At least two days,” Bella said. “You have to stay that long.”
“We’ll see,” Reece said. “Now, how about you introduce me to your parents?”
Bella looked around the large dining table that evening. Everyone she loved most in the world was there: her parents, her grandparents, Christo, and now Reece. Her mother had fixed Bella’s favorite: her country-style steak with gravy and mashed potatoes.
Everything felt perfect in her world, Bella realized.
“I wish you didn’t have to go tomorrow,” Gale was saying to Christo.
“There’s a part of me that wishes that, too, Mrs. Ryan, but I’ve been away from Simon long enough. Who knew that I would miss being a wife as much as I do?” Christo said with a chuckle.
“Not I,” Bella chimed in. “Had you told me five years ago that you would be settled down and grinning from ear to ear about being a wife, I would have laughed you right out the door.”
“I know, right?” Christo agreed. “I never would have thought either.”
“Simon is a lucky guy,” Gale said to Christo.
“Thanks, I think so,” Christo laughed.
The conversation went on fluidly. Reece regaled the family of some of his antics growing up, from trying to kidnap his sister when he was eleven—complete with a ransom note written on his mother’s own stationary—to deciding he could roller skate from Dallas to Grapevine for a girl he professed to love at the age of fifteen (which resulted in getting picked up by the cops for his own safety), he had the family laughing at his retelling of the woes he put his poor mother and older sister through.
“So, you’ve always been the kind of guy who goes to the extreme for his woman?” Jack asked Reece.
“I guess now that I think about it, I do.” He glanced over at Bella. “This one has me going to an extreme I never knew possible, though.” He reached over under the table and squeezed her knee.
“You’ve taught me a little about the lengths a man will go to as well,” Bella’s grandfather quipped. “I thought I’d seen it all, but you, dear fella, have taken the proverbial cake.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, I think,” Reece said, and Bella nodded that he should.
Early the next morning, Christo woke Bella to tell her good bye before leaving for the airport.
“Divine Designs,” he said in her ear. “Keep thinking about it. We’ll talk when you get back to town.”
“I love you, Christo. Thank you,” Bella said, “for everything.”
“I love you, too, Bella, and I’m just glad that life is returning to normal and you’re feeling happy once again.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “And don’t forget to think long and hard about Divine Designs. I really think we could do this well.”
Swatting at him from her bed, Bella laughed as Christo slid out the door to the taxi waiting outside. She pulled the covers over her head with a smile. She was fortunate to have such a dedicated friend as Christo, one who had never let her down and always looked out for her best interest and happiness.
His instructions about Divine Designs were present with her in the morning light, and Bella visualized the two of them working together again like they had in Haiti. She had to admit, she was proud of the work they had produced, and she felt like it was some of the best she’d done in her career thus far. Maybe starting a company together would be the best thing for them. She could see herself really enjoying going to work every day if she got to work with Christo and if she felt like her art was developing. And with some of his clients and connections, who knew the innovative, high-end designing they’d be able to do?
Bella kicked off her covers and got out of bed. She pulled on her sweatpants and t-shirt and headed downstairs. She heard noises in the kitchen and followed them to find her mother making coffee.
“You’re up early,” Bella commented.
“As are you,” Gale replied. “Everything okay?”
“Everything’s great, just can’t really get back to sleep,” Bella said.
Her mother looked at her suspiciously. “You know you’re positively glowing. You have been the past day or so. I think this visit from Reece is just what you needed,” Gale asserted. “And from the looks of things, I’m guessing you’ve decided to forgive him.”
Bella nodded. “Life is too short to carry around bitterness at someone’s mistakes.”
“Very astute, and very true.”
“I know that he did it because he was afraid of losing me, and sometimes I think that Reece relies too heavily on his money to solve his problems. But that is all water under the bridge. People make mistakes all the time. Just look at me! I’ve made plenty, but that doesn’t change the fact that I have good intentions and a good heart most of the time.”
Gale moved to envelope her daughter in a hug. “I can categorically say that you have good intentions and a good heart, Bella Ryan. And I’m proud of you for both.”
“Well, you had a little something to do with it,” Bella smiled.
“I’ll take partial credit,” her mother said returning the smile. “So, what’s this I hear about you and Christo going into business together?”
Bella inhaled slowly. “I haven’t really decided on it, but I’m leaning more towards making a go of it.”
“A go of what?” The ladies turned around to the sound of Marcus’s voice as Bella’s father entered the kitchen.
“You, too?” Gale asked her husband.
“I heard you get up and couldn’t really get back to sleep, so I figured I’d just get up and get my day started. And now I get to spend time with my two favorite ladies.”
“Bella and Christo are starting a business together,” Gale filled him in.
“Really?”
“Well, I haven’t fully committed, but . . . that’s part of why I’m awake. I just kept thinking about it and getting excited about the possibilities.”
“Going into
business for yourself can be very expensive,” Marcus cautioned. “Just ask your grandpa and me. When we decided to expand the farm and include the wedding venue, it was like starting a small business even though we already had an established one. It takes a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and money,” he said.
“What will you do for the upstart capital?” Gale asked her daughter. “I know that there are more and more small business loan programs that help people like you get started.”
Bella shook her head. “I’m just finished paying off my student loans. I don’t want to get back into that, which is a big reason I never really gave it any real thought until now. Reece wants to back us.”
“Wow. That’s really generous,” Gale replied.
“Yeah. I wasn’t keen on the idea at first, but . . . well, if he is dying to spend his money, I can give him a way to do it that will benefit a few of us.”
Marcus looked at Bella with seriousness. “Just be careful, sweetheart. The quickest way to kill a friendship—or in your case a relationship—is to mix in business.”
“What about family businesses? They survive.”
“They survive because it’s in the blood. They survive because family can’t as easily screw you over.”
“Or in some cases they can screw you over even more,” a voice said.
The three Ryans turned to see Reece coming into the kitchen. “Sorry to intrude, and I wasn’t eavesdropping,” he explained. He turned to Bella. “Your father is right, though. Sometimes, business and financial matters can kill a friendship. But we’d take every precaution against that. I’m merely offering to be a silent partner. I believe in Bella, and I have seen first-hand what great work she and Christo do together. I’ve helped others in the Dallas area start businesses. It’s a charity I help support. But what kind of man would I be if I didn’t help my future wife start her own business? I couldn’t look myself in the mirror every morning, knowing I gave money to help others’ dreams come true, but never did anything for the love of my life.”
“I’m still not one-hundred percent sure,” Bella interjected.
“No one ever is,” Reece said. “But you don’t have to decide today.”
“That’s right, Bella honey. How about a cup of coffee first? Then, you can get the details from Reece and ask the questions you want to ask. No one’s pressuring you to make a decision today.”
“Coffee first,” Bella agreed. “Then Reece and I take the horses out. I want him to see what his money bought him.”
“That sounds like a perfect day to me,” Reece said, but Bella had a few other plans to make their day even more perfect.
90
“She’s a beauty,” Reece said as he rubbed the long nose of Destiny’s Dream. “I take it you like her,” he said as he looked to Bella.
“I love her. She’s phenomenal, so responsive. I feel young again when I’m on her. She takes me back to a different time—when I was young and full of potential and had fewer worries.”
“You’re still young and full of potential,” Reece offered. “A different potential than you may have possessed in your youth, but that’s okay. We grow and change. It’s a fact of life.”
“Change is the only constant,” Bella said.
“Exactly, so there’s no real reason to be running from it. Just embrace it,” Reece remarked.
Bella strapped a saddle onto her father’s horse. “You’re going to ride Lucien,” she said. “I’m taking Destiny, and we’ll see just how well you do in a race. I’ve heard you brag about winning the race, so I want to see if you really can.”
“Done with the conversation, eh?”
“For now,” she said. Lucien was a dappled gray and white horse that her father had traded a few summers ago. He’d been her father’s trusty companion, and now he would show Reece just what it took to win a race. Within minutes, Reece was sitting astride Lucien, galloping across the open field, looking behind to see where Bella was. He could hear her laughter behind him, but he wanted to see her, to gauge her progress.
Too soon, she had overcome him, and Reece realized he was now literally eating her dust, stirred by the dry conditions and the hooves of Destiny pounding the ground as she passed Reece and Lucien. They raced on, the horizon at first flat and beckoning, a wooded section the mark for Bella. Destiny slowed at their approach of the woods, and Lucien followed suit as they navigated the terrain and trees.
“You okay back there?” Bella called behind her.
“Fine,” Reece said. “Just giving you a chance to change your vantage point for a bit.”
Bella laughed. “This is only the first leg,” she called. “How about a break?”
They slowed the horses to a walk and traversed their way through the forest over a stream and babbling brook, down a short slope to a small clearing carpeted with moss. Bella slid herself off of Destiny and tied her to a tree, giving her access to the fresh water. Reece followed suit.
“You sure seem to know your way around a horse,” he noted.
“Growing up out here, you had to learn two things: horses and cows. Can’t ride the cows as well, so I spent more time with the horses.”
She lowered herself to the ground and stretched out her legs, pulling her riding boots off. “I can’t believe Mom kept all my riding gear,” she said. “Of course the only thing I can still fit into are the boots.”
“I’d be a little concerned if you could fit into the riding gear you wore as a preteen and teenager,” Reece remarked. “Definitely don’t think I’d find your prepubescent body as attractive as the one you’ve grown into.”
“Yeah, but my feet? Well, I always did think they were too big for me growing up. Almost like they’d grown first and the rest of me had to catch up.”
“Just a sign from the universe at the big shoes you would fill someday,” Reece commented. He lowered himself down beside her and leaned in to kiss her.
Bella looked at him, this man who had changed her life in so many ways, and she felt within herself a surge of tenderness and longing. Wanting to be touched, she initiated more contact—took his hand and placed it over her heart, hoping he would feel the strength of its beat.
Reece’s cinnamon-brown eyes looked deeply into Bella’s blue oceans. He spoke to her, but not with words. His eyes told her how much he loved her, how much he wanted her and needed her, how much he wanted to spend his days making her happy. She lifted his hand from her chest to her face, and he cupped her cheek in his hand. The songbirds in the trees seemed to be singing a special love song, and Reece felt his heart as light as the hummingbird’s wings.
Bella lengthened her neck, and Reece ran his fingers down the length of it, resting it on the top button of her shirt, his eyes asking permission. She smiled her response, and Reece’s fingers slid the button through the hole, granting him access to the next one down, sliding that button through its hole and gliding his fingers down to the next until they were all undone, her shirt opened exposing the white cotton bra underneath.
Shrugging the shirt off of her shoulders, Bella spread it out behind her and lay back. Reece’s lips were on her belly, warm and soft. He pulled away long enough to take in the sight of her, his eyes roaming where his lips had been, where his fingers had played. Bella motioned to him, and Reece pushed himself up towards her, his face even with her own, his eyes and lips matching hers. She reveled in the sensation his kiss brought her body, and her mouth worked against his, hungry for more.
Her boots already removed, Reece had little work to do to get her pants off of her, and she tilted her pelvis so that they could easily slide away from her body. He followed suit, and she lay drunk on the sight of his naked body standing over her in the small forest. Too impatient to wait any longer, Bella reached out to him, and Reece lowered himself onto her. His hands roved her body, and his lips eagerly sought her skin, then her mouth. Their kiss spoke of urgency and need, and Bella tilted her pelvis upward against him to communicate her desire for him here on the carpet of moss.<
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The smell of Bella and the earth was strong in Reece’s nostrils, spurring on a carnal delight he felt deep within him. He let himself get lost in the deliciousness of the moment, his intense need for her about to be satiated. He repositioned himself, and Bella spread her legs wider in invitation. He wanted to be inside her, needed to plunge into her warmth.
She welcomed him as she’d never welcomed him before, taking him in, feeling how he completed her fully. His movement started slow, sure, and she pulled her knees up to grant him more access to her center, feeling him rooted inside of her deeper, straight into her core, adding to her very essence.
They hit a stride together, and Bella found herself gripping Reece, her fingers digging into the skin on his back. The intensity had risen to heights she’d never known possible, and with each thrust, she felt the power of Reece’s love crest and surge throughout her entire body, even leaving her fingertips tingling as his own body shuddered with the release.
“Wow,” Bella breathed. “What exactly was that?”
“I don’t know,” Reece panted, “but I’d say it was something this side of transcendental.”
“It was like we were the forest and the light and air and . . .”
“Love,” Reece finished.
“Love,” Bella agreed, and she tightened her grip around him as he rested his head on her breast.
“You need to understand something, Bella,” Reece began, and he sat himself up, pulling her up to a seated position with him. “I want to tell you this, look you in the eyes so that you know it’s the truth. You can always trust me to do everything I can to keep you in my life. That’s all I was ever trying to do. I know my methods may have caused you to question me, but you will never need to question my motives or my loyalty. I have only ever wanted you, and I’ll do anything to keep from losing you again.”
Bella shivered in the cool breeze, a contrast to the warmth she felt from the inside. “Anything?” Bella asked with a gleam in her eye.
“Absolutely anything,” Reece said. “Haven’t I proven that to you yet?”